by Nicole Ellis
After Sarah had the front of the shop closed up, she and Charlotte walked to the back. Charlotte stood awkwardly by the staircase to her apartment above the bookstore.
“I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you about Patrick.”
“I know.” Sarah smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Goodnight.” Charlotte’s customary smile had returned, and she gave Sarah a little wave before walking up the stairs. Sarah went out into the back alley and locked the door behind her.
On the way home, she slowed her pace and took in the sights of Candle Beach as it prepared for Christmas. The town hadn’t yet wrapped the lampposts in white and red ribbons, but they’d changed out the summer hanging flower baskets for heartier winter plants. This was her favorite time of year, so why wasn’t she happier?
14
Although Sarah was a staunch supporter of the Haven Shores Children’s Club, she’d been dreading their annual fundraising dinner for weeks. Everyone there, including some of her teacher friends, would attend with a date. Would Patrick be there? In case he brought Maura, she hadn’t wanted to go alone, so she’d enlisted Adam to come with her. He hadn’t been keen about dressing up for the event, but he’d reluctantly agreed to go with her. At least it wasn’t a real date, so he wouldn’t be forced to dance. That would probably have killed him.
A searing pain shot through her chest. Patrick would have been the ideal date but, of course, that wasn’t an option. She’d considered Charlotte’s advice to tell him how she felt, but it didn’t feel like the right time to say anything to him. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since he’d come to her apartment to bring over the samples. It was almost as though he was trying to cut himself out of her life completely. That was silly though. Maybe he was just caught up in the holiday rush like everyone else in the world.
She focused her attention on what mattered – getting dressed for the evening. The Haven Shores Children’s Club was a community organization that provided after-school activities for children in the area. Although they lived in Candle Beach, the smaller town didn’t offer as many recreational activities as Haven Shores and several of her students belonged to Children’s Club sports teams. The holiday season was always busy, but she made a point to save time in her schedule and in her budget to attend the annual fundraiser.
For the event, she’d bought a dark purple cocktail dress with a deep beaded V neckline and a pleated skirt. A knock sounded on her door and she swiped on some lipstick before answering it.
She opened the door to Adam. He stood in her doorway wearing a black suit with a crisply ironed white shirt and tie – and a pained expression.
He adjusted the tie’s noose around his neck. “Tell Angel I get some extra boyfriend points for being nice to my sister.”
Sarah hid a grin. “I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you.” She gave him a quick hug. This wasn’t Adam’s thing and he was being nice to attend the event with her. “What’s she up to tonight?”
He shrugged. “I think she and Gretchen were watching a romantic comedy together. She seemed happy for me to leave them to a girls’ night because she claims I talk too much during movies.”
“You do.” Sarah laughed when he widened his eyes in protest. “You always have, even when we were kids. I think I missed some key points of The Lion King because you were talking. Anyway, thank you for coming with me.”
“Sure.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet. “Are you ready to go?”
She held up a finger. “Almost.” Sitting down on the couch, she slipped her feet into heels that were higher than she normally wore and then teetered over to the kitchen counter to grab her purse and keys.
She followed Adam down the front steps to his car. With her high heels, she was almost as tall as he was.
“Did you grow a foot in the last week?” he asked as he opened her car door.
“Ha ha.” She stuck her tongue out at him and shut the door. He chuckled all the way over to the driver’s side.
“This event is at the Haven Shores community center, right?” Adam asked once they were on the road.
She nodded. “They have it there every year. Surprisingly, they’re able to do a lot with the space.”
When they arrived at the community center, the parking was already sparse, and they had to park far away from the building. By the time they walked through the front door, her feet were killing her. The shoes may have perfectly matched the violet shade of her dress, but now they didn’t seem like such a great idea.
“Your coat, madam?” Adam held his hand out chivalrously as he offered to put her jacket in the coatroom.
She slid it off her shoulders, shivering a little in the cool air flowing in from the open front door.
The party was in full swing as they entered the main ballroom. Elegant silver and blue streamers had been hung from the ceiling, their crepe strands interspersed with white fairy lights. A giant Christmas tree decked in white and blue glass bulbs sat prominently in the corner, towering over the crowd. Everywhere, well-dressed people chatted in small groups with each other and sipped drinks while uniformed waiters circulated amongst them, tempting the partygoers with hors d’oeuvres.
“Ma’am? Sir?” A waiter hovered near them, gesturing to a serving plate filled with flaky crab puffs.
Adam’s eyes lit up at the sight of food. “Yes, thank you.” He scooted several of the appetizers onto a napkin that the waiter offered him. Then he popped one of the bite-sized crab puffs in his mouth and chewed, a blissful expression coming over his face. When he finished swallowing, he said, “Now, this – this was worth getting dressed up for.”
Sarah smirked. Her brother had never outgrown his childhood love of food, especially pastries. Still, she couldn’t fault him. She’d swiped one off the tray too and it had been as flaky and delicious as it had looked. “I think they’ll announce dinner soon.”
“Ah.” His eyes roved the large room. “I’ll have to sample everything quickly then.”
She groaned and shook her head but couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her lips as she watched him make a beeline for a uniformed waitress about twenty feet away. Then she caught sight of a man standing by himself in the corner of the room – Patrick. Although she wasn’t surprised to see him because half of the teachers in the area were in attendance, she was surprised by the wistfulness that came over her. Even if they weren’t meant to have a romantic relationship, she missed their friendship.
Should she go over to him? Was he here with a date? It had been a while since she’d spoken to Maura because they’d both been so busy with school, so she wasn’t sure if they were still dating. She continued watching him, but he only sipped his drink and leaned against the wall. Eventually, a man in his forties approached Patrick and clapped him on the shoulder. They spoke for a while and she watched him unabashedly, until he suddenly turned and their eyes met. She quickly looked away. Had he seen her spying on him? If he hadn’t had a reason to avoid her before, now he did. He probably thought she was some sort of stalker. She allowed herself a quick glance at him, but he hadn’t moved.
When he finally parted ways with the other man, he started to walk in her direction, but then stopped.
“Look at all of these.” Adam reappeared by her side with two small plates full of food and offered one to her. She reached for it automatically but didn’t take her eyes off of Patrick. He’d turned completely around by now and appeared to be trying to get as far away from her as possible.
She sighed. “Thanks,” she said as she accepted the plate. Might as well drown her sorrows in delicious food.
“Are you okay?” Adam popped the last bite of a jumbo shrimp into his mouth and stared at her.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said sharply. His eyes widened, and she cringed at the hurt expression on his face. “Sorry, I don’t mean to take it out on you.”
“What’s bothering you? Is it the stress of t
he new house?”
She looked at him. That was as good of an excuse as any since she didn’t want to get into a conversation about her nonexistent relationship with Patrick. “Yeah, they haven’t approved my loan yet because they keep losing my paperwork. It’s starting to get to me.”
He put his free arm around her waist and hugged her close to him. “Sorry, sis. I was a horrible mess when I bought the newspaper and my apartment above it. It’s hard to spend your whole life savings on something and then just hope that it all turns out okay.”
She allowed herself to lean into her big brother’s arms, suddenly very aware of how anxious she actually was about the new house. “Thanks, Adam.”
The light orchestral music stopped and a man at the front of the room cleared his throat before announcing into the microphone that dinner was about to be served. The cocktail portion of the evening had passed more quickly than she’d realized and half of the seats around the tables had already been claimed. At this rate, the evening would be over before she knew it.
“We’d better find a table,” she said. Adam spotted two seats together at an almost full table and they nabbed them before they were taken. After introducing themselves to the rest of the table, who were all friends already, she found herself deep in conversation with the woman next to her about the state of education in the area.
Soon, dinner was served. While they ate, Sarah scanned the room surreptitiously for Patrick. She finally found him sitting at a table with several other people, but he didn’t appear to have a date with him. Should she go over to him, or would that look weird? By the time she’d swallowed the last bite of her chicken cordon bleu, the decision had been made for her – the speeches had started.
After she fought to stay awake through an hour of dull speeches, a band set up on the stage broke out into a lively song designed to entice people out onto the dance floor. Sarah looked at Adam.
“Uh-uh.” He shook his head. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Oh, fine.” She loved to dance, but it wasn’t in the cards for the evening. Besides, her feet were already killing her. She looked around the room, but Patrick had sneaked out while she’d been distracted by the band. Her mood deflated.
Why had he said nothing to her the whole evening? She knew he’d seen her, but he’d purposely snubbed her. Had their friendship meant so little to him? “We might as well head home now,” she said.
“But what about dessert?” Adam hung his head like a puppy dog. “We can’t leave before they serve dessert. I heard there’s cherry cheesecake.”
She had to smile. She knew he didn’t want to be there, but he’d do anything for a dessert. “Fine, we can stay until after dessert.”
By the time they got back to Candle Beach, it was after eleven o’clock and she was yawning – her normal bedtime was around ten because she liked to get to school early. Her feet were dragging as she walked up the stairs to her house.
She waved goodbye to Adam, who had waited in the car to make sure she got in safely. When she opened the door and stepped inside, he drove off. She closed the door firmly behind her, set her keys on the kitchen counter and kicked off her shoes as she walked toward the living room. They hit the wall with a dull clunk that echoed her mood. Even her cheery Christmas decorations failed to brighten her spirits. She’d never have thought her friendship with Patrick could dissolve so quickly. At least she had her new house to keep her mind off of him. Had the bank responded yet to the paperwork she’d sent them?
She sat down at her computer and clicked on her email. The bank she was using for the mortgage had sent her something. Her stomach filled with unease as soon as she skimmed the email from them. They needed more documentation about her pay – the same thing she’d sent them last week. She flipped the laptop lid down. She’d thought buying a house would be exciting, but, so far, it had been much more stressful than she’d anticipated. She leaned back in her desk chair, her feet aching from the shoes she’d been wearing. Tomorrow would be better. It certainly couldn’t be worse.
15
The next day, Sarah couldn’t take it anymore. She called Maura to find out if Patrick had said something to her about the charity dinner the night before.
“Patrick?” Maura asked.
“Yeah.” Sarah paused. Why was Maura acting so perplexed? “He wouldn’t talk to me at all. Do you know why?”
“No. Why would I?”
“Because you’re dating him?”
Maura laughed. “We are definitely not dating. Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know.” Hadn’t Patrick implied that he and Maura were dating? When she’d asked him about their date, he’d said it went well and then he’d changed the subject. She’d figured he felt awkward talking to her about it, but she’d obviously been wrong. “You seemed like you’d be perfect for each other and then neither of you told me how your date had gone, so I just assumed…”
“Well, we’re not.” Maura cleared her throat. “But it sounds like you could use someone to talk to. It’s been a while since we hung out and I’m free today. Why don’t you come over to my house for some tea or coffee? Would that work?”
Sarah surveyed her living room. It was a mess of boxes, both neatly packed and overflowing. There was still a lot to do before the closing on her new house – if that ever happened. But maybe getting away from it and seeing her friend would help the anxiety that rose up in her chest every time she thought about not getting the house.
“Sure. I’ll be there in twenty minutes, okay?”
“See you then.” Maura hung up.
Sarah grabbed her keys and her coat, then hiked over to Maura’s house. The air outside was crisp and the sun bright. Usually the combination would lift her spirits, but today all the brightness did was numb her even more. She knocked on the door of Maura’s cute blue house. Her friend hadn’t gone all out decorating for Christmas yet, but she’d made a nod to the season with a fragrant wreath framing the knocker. The door swung open and Maura beckoned her in, leading her into a cozy kitchen.
“It was horrible, Maura.” Sarah bent low over the cup of tea Maura had offered her. “He completely ignored me and acted like I wasn’t even there.”
“Maybe he didn’t see you,” Maura said helpfully.
“Oh, he saw me.” She remembered the look on his face when he’d seen her there, like she’d stomped all over him or something, and then as suddenly as the expression had appeared on his face, it was gone, and so was he.
“So? Why are you upset about it?” Maura dunked a fresh tea bag into the steaming water she’d poured into her cup.
“Because we were friends. I even fixed him up with you and now look how he treats me.” She sipped her too-hot tea.
Maura snorted. “You mean the date that didn’t go so well?”
“Yeah.” Sarah peered at her friend. “What happened with that? You didn’t say anything to me afterward.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Maura said vaguely. “We just didn’t hit it off I suppose. He seems like a great guy, but he’s not my great guy. Besides, I get the feeling he has feelings for another girl.”
“Oh.” Sarah felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. “Well, she’s a lucky girl. He’s so nice and smart and handsome…” She trailed off, realizing she was babbling about someone she claimed was only a friend.
“Uh-huh.” Maura stared at her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had feelings for him.”
“No, of course not. He’s only a friend.” Her protest sounded flat, even to her, especially because her stomach still hurt from Maura’s revelation. She fought for something to prove her claim. “Would I have set him up with you if I had feelings for him myself?”
“Maybe?” Maura put her teacup down on the table and took a bite of the miniature scones she’d removed from the oven after getting Sarah settled at the kitchen table.
“Well, I don’t.” Sarah bit into a scone so she wouldn’t have to talk anymore.
She swallowed, almost choking on the scone. The thought of Patrick dating someone else couldn’t be bothering her, right? “Uh, yeah. It’s this house thing. I still don’t know if my loan will come through in time. I’m scared I’ll lose the house to someone else.”
“I’m sure it will be fine.” Maura pushed the scone plate at her. “Have another. I think you could do with some carbs. Buying a house can be very stressful, but it will be so worth it in the end.”
Sarah hoped Maura was right. At the moment, it was difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She glanced around Maura’s kitchen. Maura had an old-fashioned turquoise oven with four burners on top and she’d painted the rest of the kitchen a light blue, with a fleur-de-lis border at the top. The overall effect was enchanting, and she could see herself spending a lot of time in a kitchen like this. Maybe she should do the kitchen in her new house with a similar style. She found herself daydreaming for a minute about baking cookies in a beautifully renovated kitchen. Maybe she could talk her family into buying her things for her house for their Christmas gifts to her.
A realization hit her. Christmas gifts. She’d been able to buy and deliver some Thanksgiving fixings for the Jensen family, but would Tommy have any presents waiting for him under the tree?
“What’s wrong?” Maura asked sharply, breaking into Sarah’s thoughts.
“Oh, I was just thinking about one of my students. His dad was laid off from the mill last month and they’re having some financial troubles.” She frowned. “His parents are doing the best they can, but I don’t think they’ll have much money for gifts for the three kids.”
Maura sighed. “It’s so sad to see situations like that. Unfortunately, they’re all too common here with the logging industry disappearing.”
“I just wish there was something I could do.” Sarah stared out the kitchen window.